Loom



Aug. 21, 1956 E. HoNEGGl-:R

LOOM

Filed May 18, 1953 United States Patent O LOOM Emil Honegger, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to Gesellschaft zur Frderung der Forschung an der Eidg. Techn. Hochschule, Zurich, Switzerland Application May 13, 1953, Serial No. 355,693

Claims priority, application Switzerland May 21, 1952 4 Claims. (Cl. 139-1) In conventional looms, the shedding mechanism such as the cam shaft for driving the harnesses or the dobby, mostly is moved through a gear drive or chain gear by the drive for the other loom mechanisms. Timing the beat-up motions and shedding motions relatively to each other is fixed according to definite rules when setting up the loom and, as a rule, will not or rarely be altered any more. Resetting requires special tools, knowledge and considerable work. Moreover, fine adjustment is not possible at all as a rule.

Timing the shedding motion relatively to the beat-up motion is of greatest importance for the weaving operation, in particular when producing tight or dense fabrics or synthetic fiber fabrics which present increased difliculties. Such knowledge forms the basis of the present invention.

My invention relates to a loom which in the main is distinguished by the insertion of an adjusting gear between the loom drive and the shedding mechanism, whereby timing of the shedding motion relatively to the beat-up motion may be continuously changed. Preferably there are provided at least one scale and an appurtenant reading mark to indicate the chosen setting.

In a conventional loom construction, the mechanism for forming the shed, for example the eccentric shaft for the drive of the loom shafts or the dobby, is set in motion, usually through a gear or chain transmission, by the drive mechanism for the remainder of the loom, in particular by the drive for the lay mechanism. The moment of the closing and opening of the shed in relation to the movement of the lay is established according to certain instructions, when the loom is installed and is, as a rule, never or rarely changed. If, thereafter, a displacement of the phase position of the shed forming mechanism in relation to the lay drive is desired, special tools and knowledge and considerable labor are required. A ne adjustment of the phase is, as a rule, not possible. Moreover, the resetting of the phase can be done only when the loom is at a standstill, i. e. not running.

When producing tightly woven fabrics, or fabrics of man-made fibers which involve increased diiiculties, the moment of closing of the shed in relation to the striking of the lay i. e. the phase between the two is of greatest importance, and it is the principal object of the present invention to make it possible to eiect an adjustment in that phase without having to bring the loom to a standstill. In accordance with the invention, the apparatus for enabling the phase as between the shed closing and lay strike to be adjusted while the loom is running comprises a first gear wheel mounted for free rotation on the shaft which drives the lay, this rst gear wheel being coupled to the shaft which drives the shed-forming mechanism, a transmission shaft spaced laterally from the lay driving shaft, this transmission shaft having mounted thereon two gear wheels, one of which is meshed with the first gear wheel and the other being meshed with a second gear wheel mounted upon and secured fast to the lay driving shaft, this transmission shaft being mounted in a frame which is pivotable about the axis of the lay driving shaft, and an 2,759,494 Patented Aug. Z1, 1956 ICE adjusting gear between the frame and a standard or other fixed member on the loom enabling one to adjust the frame pivotally while the loom is running and thereby effect a corresponding change in the phase as between the lay and shed forming mechanism drive shafts. The adjusting gear may comprise a worm wheel secured on the frame concentric with the lay driving shaft and a worm mounted for rotation on a xed part of the loom. According to a further feature of the invention, a scale and associated pointer are provided to indicate visually the particular adjusted phase position of the shed forming mechanism relative to the lay drive.

The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages inherent in the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation showing a portion of the locm drive together with the phase changing mechanism; an

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line II-II of Fig. 1.

With reference now to the drawings, it is to be noted that in the interest of simplifying this disclosure none of the Operating components of the loom itself such as the shed forming mechanism, the lay mechanism or the shuttle mechanism have been illustrated since their structures per set are Well known and require no structural modication to incorporate the present invention.

The loom to which the invention is applied includes a shaft 10 which serves as the drive shaft for the shedforming mechanism and is so indicated by legend on the drawing. For driving this shaft, a gear wheel 11 is mounted upon and secured to it. Gear wheel 11 is meshed with a gear wheel 12a secured upon a hollow shaft 20 which in turn is mounted for free rotation upon another drive shaft 13. The latter serves to drive the lay mechanism, as indicated by legend, and may be the main drive shaft of the loom, it being driven by an electric motor, not shown, and being mounted for rotation in the loom frame and having cranks thereon for driving the lay. The hollow shaft 20 has secured upon it an* other gear wheel 21 of slightly larger diameter which is displaced laterally of the gear 12a within a frame 26, more about which will be said later. Another gear wheel 24, which is of larger diameter than gear wheel 21, is mounted upon shaft 13 within the frame 26 and is secured fast upon shaft 13 by means of a key 24a.

The two coaxially arranged gear Wheels 21 and 24 are coupled to each other by means including a transmission shaft 25 extending laterally of drive shaft 13 and parallel with the latter, the transmission shaft being mounted for rotation in sleeve bearings 25a located in the opposite end walls of the frame 26. Two gear wheels 22 and 23, structurally integrated, are mounted upon the shaft 25. Gear wheel 22 which is of larger diameter than gear wheel 23, is meshed with gear wheel 21, and gear wheel 23 is meshed with gear wheel 24.

In accordance with the invention, the frame 26 is mounted for pivotal adjustment about the axis of shaft 13 and to this end it will be seen from Fig. 2 that the frame 26 is structurally integrated with a worm wheel 27, the hub portion of which is provided with a bore 27a through which the shaft 13 extends, the bore 27a being essentially of the same diameter as shaft 13 so that the latter serves as a support for the gear wheel 27 concentric with shaft 13. A worm 28 meshing with worm wheel 27 is mounted for rotation in spaced standards 29 or another convenient fixed portion of the loom, and a crank 30 at the end of the worm 28 is provided for rotating the same. The worm gearing 27-28 is so designed as to be self-locking and hence serves as an adjusting gear enabling the gear 21 to be displaced relative to the drive shaft 13,

The meshing gears 21 and 22, 23 and 24, and 11 and 12a have a number of teeth such that the transmission ratio between the drive shaft 13 and drive shaft 10 is 1:1. However, such ratio can be changed if desired.

In order to enable one to obtain a visual indication of the phase adjustment as between shafts 13 and 1'() and hence the phase of the lay relative to the shed forming mechanism, the worm wheel 27 is provided at one side with an arcuate scale 31 arranged concentrically therewith, and a stationary pointer element 32 is mounted on a fixed part of the loomframe. Preferably the scale 31 is calibrated in the so-called shed-closing angle. The shedclosing angle is taken to be Zero when the shed is closed at exactly the same instant that the lay strikes; the angle is positive when the shed closes earlier, and indicates the angular path, in degrees, which the shaft 13 must still travel before the lay strikes. The shed-closing angle is negative when the shed is closed after the lay strikes. In most cases occurring in practice, the shed-closing angle is adjusted between plus 60 and minus 45 degrees. However, the scale 31 may also be calibrated in units of path, or time, so that one can read how many units of path or time earlier, or later, the shed is closed than the lay strikes.

During rotation :of worm 28, the frame 26 is pivoted about the axis of drive shaft 13, resulting in displacement of the hollow shaft and hence of the gear wheel 12a of the drive (gear wheel 11 and drive shaft 10) for the shedforming mechanism relative to the drive shaft 13 for the lay mechanism. On the other hand, by means of the gear wheels 21 to 24, rotation of the drive shaft 13 is transmitted to the hollow shaft 21). By means of worm gearing 27., 28, the movement phase of the shed-forming mechanism can be displaced continuously relative to the movement phase of the lay drive in such manner that the moment of shed closing relative to striking of the vlay is varied. Because the worm 28 is arranged lon the stationary part of the loom frame, the displacement of the phase position can be carried out while the loom isV running. The particular phase settingcan be read on scale 31 also while the loom is in operation. It is also possible, of course, to-reverse the locations of the scale 31 andpointer 32, placing the scale 31 on a stationary part of the loom and placing the pointer element 32 on the frame 26. The described phase adjusting mechanism in accordance with the invention can also be used in connection with a dobby, a Jacquard machine, or a Verdol machine.

I claim:

1. In a loom having a first drive shaft for driving the lay mechanism of the loom and a second drive shaft driven by said first shaft for driving the shed-forming mechanism of the loom, means for effecting a change in the relative phase positions as between said first and second drive shafts and hence a corresponding change in phase as between the lay and shed-forming mechanisms of the loom, said phase changing means comprising, a first gear wheel mounted for free rotation on said first drive shaft, means coupling said first gear wheel to said second shaft for driving the same, a transmission shaft spaced laterally from said first drive shaft and having two gear wheels mounted thereon one of which meshes with said first gear wheel and the other of which meshes with a second gear Wheel mounted on and secured fast to said first drive shaft, said transmission shaft being mounted for rotation in a frame which is pivotable about the axis of said first drive shaft, and an adjusting gear between said frame and a standard lof the loom enabling said frame to be adjusted pivotally thereby to effect a change in the phase positions as between said first and second drive shafts.

2. A loom structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said adjusting gear for effecting a pivotal adjustment of said frame about the axis of said first drive shaft comprises a worm wheel fastened to said frame concentric with said first drive shaft and a worm meshed with said worm Wheel and mounted on said standard for rotation.

3. A loom structure as defined in claim 1 and which further includes a scale element and an associated pointer element, one of said elements being stationary and the :other being mounted on said frame for indicating a particular adjusted phase position as between said first and second drive shafts.

4. A loom structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said means coupling said first gear wheel to said second drive shaft includes a further gear wheel mounted on said first drive shaft for free rotation with respect thereto, said further gear wheel being laterally displaced from said first gear wheel outside said frame and rotated by said first gear andbeing meshed with a gear Wheel mounted onl and secured fast to said second drive shaft.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

